Hair fastener



Jan. 3, 1939. "w. HUPPERT 2,142,849

HAIR FASTENFR Filed Feb. 23, 1938 :H- w 9 f "74 1 4 16 1- 00 OOOOOQO INVENTOR ATTORN EY Patented Jan. 3, 1939 William Hnppcrt, New

York, N. Y., asslgnor to Dclamere Company, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Application February 23, 1938, Serial No. 191,882

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a hair fastener of the barrette type having a clamping tongue, and more particularly to an improved catch for fasteni the tongue in its closed position.

Various forms of catches have heretofore been proposed, all of which have been found to be generally unsatisfactory because of the difficulty experienced in fastening or unfastening the tongue, expense of manufacture, lack of durability, and for other reasons.

Amon the objects of the present invention are to provide a barrette of simple, effective, inexpensive and durable construction which is provided with a catch that is so designed that the resilient tongue may be easily snapped over the catch into closed orlocked position and when so caugh cannot be accidently unfastened but which per;- mits of easily opening or unfastening the tongue when it is desired to remove the barrette from the hair.

The accompanying drawing illustrates an embodiment of the invention, in which:

Figure l is a side view of the hair fastener;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof; and

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, on an enlarged scale. p

The device comprises a body in of molded plastic substance, such as a cellulose acetate plastic or *othersuitable plastic material. The body is usually curved or bowed in the direction of its length, and it may be provided with a series of teeth H, which are preferably formed integral with the body. The teeth project downwardly from the longitudinal medial line of the lower surface. The upper surface may be ornamented or decorated in any desired manner.

l2 indicates generally a tongue formed of a.

single piece of wire doubled over-to provide twov substantially parallel arms I3 that lie on either side of the teeth II. The ends l4 of the arms are intumed and fit into a hole that extends transversely through the hingleblock IS, the latter being formed at one end of the body and preferably integral therewith. The arms I3 of the tongue are constricted at 11, adjacent the block I6, and are tied together by a strap l8 which is bent or crimped around the arms. This provides a simple and economical construction for hinging the tongue to the body, and affords the desired resilience necessary to permit the tongue to be snapped over the catch. The free end I9 of the tongue projects outwardly beyond the body to provide a finger grip and is preferably narrowed or constricted at 20, although such narrowing. is not essential. The tongue has a lengthwise curvature corresponding substantially to that of the body.

The catch 2| for the tongue is formed at the opposite end, preferably integral with the body and of the same plastic material. The catch is best seen in Fig. 3, where it is shown in the reverse position from which it is normally used. The catchhas two inclined side walls 22 that meet in a relatively long edge that is slightly rounded off. The space between the walls 22 at the widest portion 23 is greaterthan the normal spacing of the portions of the arms I3 of the tongue that are designed to engage the catch. It will be noted that the walls of the V or wedge-shaped portion of the catch are relatively long and form an acute angle with each other. This reduces the wear on the catch in opening and closing the tongue and greatly facilitates its closing, as in closing the arms are automatically spread over the widened portion 23 and then snapped into the recesses or notches 24 where they are held securely locked against accidental opening. In its closed position, the arms of the tongue rest upon'the shoulders or abutments and the tongue is supported in parallelism to the body, as seen in Figure 1.

On referring to Figure i, it will be observed that "in the closedposition of the tongue, the V- shaped portion "o the catch projects a considerable distance below the tongue. In opening the barrette, one finger, generally the thumb, is placed against the long edge of the catch and another finger, generally the index finger, is placed against the projecting end of the tongue, and the two fingers are moved relatively toward each other. The relatively long edge of the catch provides a convenient pressing surface so that in opening the barrette the catch will not dig into the thumb. Furthermore, the height of the catch facilitates opening of the barrette.

Various modifications in the details of construction herein illustrated and described may be resorted to within th scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the claims.

What I claim is: a

1. In a hair fastener, a body. a tongue having spaced resilient arms hinged at one end tothe body, a wedge-shaped catch at the opposite end for engaging the free end of the tongue, said catch having relatively long inclined plane walls forming an acute angle with each other, whereby to provide a relatively large bearing surface over which the arms of the tongue slide into locked position, thereby preventing undue wear of said surfaces, and recesses below said walls into which the arms of the tongue snap in closed position.

2. In a. hair tg'stener of the character described, I. wedge-shaped catch having sloping plane walls of greater length than width converging towards each other, recesses extending the entire length of the catch below said walls, and a hinged tongue having parallel resilient portions spaced apart a distance less than the greatest transverse width of the catch, whereby when the tongue is swung into closedposition said portions thereof will be spread in parallelism to slide over the converging walls throughout their entire area and will snap into locking engagement in said recesses. 

